Listing Category: PAINS Project

Pain care in the United States presents a complex set of challenges. On the one hand, there is ample documentation that pain, especially chronic pain, is often not well managed, and that as the Institute of Medicine has stated, we need a “cultural transformation in how pain is judged, managed and treated” to advance pain More Info »

Summary for policy brief List of current legislative barriers for each state This policy brief is a product of the Pain Action Alliance to Implement a National Strategy (PAINS), in collaboration with the Center for Practical Bioethics, the American Academy of Pain Management (AAPM), and the Pain and Policy Studies Group (PPSG) at the University More Info »

Healthcare practice, including pain management, is governed at the state level and not by federal laws. Numerous barriers continue to affect the provision of pain care. A prevalent barrier is the presence of state policies that create undue restrictions or practice ambiguities. Healthcare professionals need to understand the state statutes and regulatory policies that govern More Info »

Despite wide agreement that prescription monitoring programs (PMPs) can be valuable healthcare delivery tools and extremely effective at preventing “doctor shopping,” PMPs remain under-utilized, with most states reporting approximately one-third or fewer of authorized prescribers and dispensers using them. Undoubtedly, one of the most important policy needs around PMPs involves ways to promote widespread, even More Info »

Prescription monitoring programs (PMPs, also known as prescription drug monitoring programs, or PDMPs) are state-operated databases that collect, store, and distribute information about controlled substance prescriptions. The specific characteristics of these programs (e.g., which controlled substance schedules are included, who can access the data, which agency runs the program, etc.) can vary from state to More Info »